IgA

We took Miss L to an asthma and allergy dr on Monday to see if we could get any answers as to why she has had pneumonia 2x and required a week+ stay each time.

The dr tested her for different allergens... dust, mold, dog dander, and horse dander. To do this they clean her back and make little dots with a permanent marker. Then they take the allergen and put it right next to the marker. I think it might poke them a little, but not painfully. Miss L didn't really care for any of this, but she took it better than I think most 2-year-olds would. The last one they put on her is a control so they can see what a positive would look like. After 15 minutes they come back and measure all the spots. Luckily they all came back negative, but that also meant a dead end for answers.

He looked at all the blood work she has had done and decided that he wanted to do a blood draw to see what her white blood count is when she is healthy because it was been low before, and to test for an immune deficiency. I am so happy that he decided to do this, and so frustrated that it wasn't done before. She is IgA deficient.

IgA antibodies are found in mucus and protect us from infections. Recurrent pneumonia is one of the common infections seen in people with a of deffiency of the IgA. Those people that get infections may have to stay on antibiotics for longer then usual also, which would be why Miss L ends up staying in the hospital for so long when she gets sick.

There is no cure or treatment for IgA deficiency. The plan of action the dr gave us is to get a nebulizer for our house and medications. As soon as Miss L starts to get sick, even a little runny nose, cough, watery eyes, any sign of a cold, we start the nebulizer treatments. Because her body can't fight the infections as well as a healthy person, it is important that we don't let her get sick.

He also tested for 2 other immunoglobins. Both are a little more rare to be deficient in, and both are a little more serious. They are IgG and IgM. For the life of me I can't remember which was which right now, but one of them came back on the low side. The normal range is 30-60 and hers was 30. He said this isn't anything to worry about right now, but it was still a little upsetting to hear.

We will go back in 6 months to see how everything is going and to repeat her labs. He wants to make sure her numbers aren't dropping, and hopefully they will actually be going up. Crossing our fingers for good news in 6 months :)

Do you know anyone with an immunoglobin deficiency?